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Housing Market Outlook for 2010 and Beyond/Bowling Alley Rebounds After Katrina/A Decade of Innovation in Technology Changed Everyday Lives; The Fight Against Terror; Privacy Versus Security
Aired January 02, 2010 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama ties Al Qaeda to the attack on flight 253 and the issues this morning, you, too, will be held to account.
And 2009 was a pretty terrible year to try to sell your home. The question we're asking, will 2010 be any better?
And look and leap. Look at this breathtaking, heart-pounding jump off a cliff. Pretty picture from my vantage point. This is just one of the week's best viral videos. Today is Saturday, January 2nd, 2010. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Hi there, everyone, I'm Brooke Baldwin, sitting in for Fredricka Whitfield.
Sources say the head of U.S. central command, General David Petraeus met with the president of Yemen today. This report coming just hours after President Obama publicly linked an Al Qaeda affiliate based in Yemen to last week's attack on flight 253. In his weekly media address today, the president promised retaliation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is not the first time this group has targeted us. In recent years they bombed Yemeni government facilities and western hotels, restaurants and embassies, including our embassy in 2008, killing one American. So as president, I've made it a priority to strengthen our partnership with the Yemeni government, training and equipping their security forces, sharing intelligence and working with them to strike Al Qaeda terrorists.
And even before Christmas day, we had seen the results. Training camps had been struck. Leaders eliminated, pots disrupted. And all of those involved in the attempted act of terrorism on Christmas must know, you, too, will be held to account.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: The president's remarks coming in the wake of yet another terror attack. This one in northwest Pakistan. A car bomb went off at a volleyball game, leveling nearby homes and the death toll we're hearing past the 90-mark and it could get higher. So President Obama said America will do whatever it takes to defeat these terrorists. CNN senior White House correspondent Ed Henry is with the president there in Hawaii. Ed, some pretty tough words from Mr. Obama today.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Brooke. He was referring to the fact that it has been wildly reported that before Christmas there had been some air strikes against Al Qaeda targets in Yemen. The U.S. has not claimed responsibility for the air strikes themselves but as the president made clear there and other officials have said, they're very supportive of what the Yemeni government is doing their on the ground.
In terms of retaliation and potential retaliation for the attempted terror attack on Christmas day, the White House does not use the word retaliation. We talked to top aides, and they insist the president is not interested in "retaliation" for the attack. But instead that this is just sort of the ongoing effort to fight terrorists there in Yemen.
And I think the fact that General David Petraeus, the head of central command, is in Yemen today as the president is making these remarks, it's the surest signal yet that the U.S. continues to weigh its options for potential air strikes down the road.
Of course, they're not going to give us any information about that. They're not going to tip their hand but the fact that General Petraeus is there on the ground is a pretty sure signal that the U.S. is at least weighing all of its options right now, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Weighing all of the options. We know that - not just tough words here for terrorists, but pretty tough words for U.S. intelligence as well.
HENRY: Oh, yes. U.S. officials certainly we're targeted here a bit by the president. In his remarks when he said he's going to hold anyone who made mistake here accountable, and what he's referring to is there have been wide reports already, as you know, from our Jeanne Meserve and others that basically the CIA may have had some information before this attempted terror attack, suggesting the future suspect had ties to extremists and it wasn't necessarily shared across the board, sort of what happened before 9/11.
All of that was supposed to be fixed, a post-9/11, and so what I think we should be looking ahead to is on Tuesday, his first full day at the White House, the president's calling in the head of the CIA, Leon Panetta, other intelligence chiefs, the attorney general and others, to basically, you know, call them on the carpet, what went wrong but more importantly that just pointing the finger is figuring out what they learned from those mistakes to fix it. So that they can try to prevent future attacks. That's the point of all of this, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Right. Not just finger point but certainly solutions. Ed, do me a favor, stand by. I want to bring in another voice in the conversation here Shuja Nawaz is the director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council of the United States. He also penned a book titled "Cross Swords, Pakistan, its Army and the Wars Within." Mr. Nawaz, thank you for joining me now from Washington.
Really, my first question to you, I just want to hit this point home, the fact that this suicide attack happened in a bustling area during this volleyball match. This has to hit Pakistan differently, perhaps closer to home. We're talking about presumably unarmed, ordinary Pakistani civilians.
My question is might this attack bring about a more concerted effort to root out possibly the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Pakistan?
SHUJA NAWAZ, DIR., SOUTH ASIA CTR., ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Absolutely. I think one has to understand that when the Pakistan Army moved into south Waziristan, they basically dislocated the Tariqia Taliban of Pakistan, which was the insurgency that was headquartered there. They were not able to decapitate its leadership.
So a lot of the militants actually managed to escape and many of them escaped into the Lakki Mar (ph) area, which south Waziristan, which has a very large border and clearly the Pakistan Army as well as the frontier force and the civilian forces were unable to seal that area.
So clearly the big challenge now for Pakistan is not only to muster the support of the tribes that are in this area that are hostile to these militants that have come in, but also to make sure that there is much better civilian coordination with the military, particularly on counter terrorism.
BALDWIN: Now, Mr. Nawaz, I want to take this outside of Pakistan though. And obviously, the U.S. has been funding, for example, police in Pakistan. But do we need to change our strategy at all either in Pakistan or Pakistan or nearby Afghanistan to help?
NAWAZ: And an awful lot still needs to be done. I think there's been a lot of talk, not much action within Pakistan and between the U.S. and Pakistan, particularly in strengthening the police. There is in the current aid package specific money that is designated for counter terrorism, capacity building, for training the police.
I think it's very critical that, that get into action quickly. There is already a counter terrorism group in the Ministry of Interior in Pakistan. But it is not really got into action and I think the government will need to move very quickly on that.
BALDWIN: And Mr. Nawaz, I just want you to make this one point from what I read in your pre-interview, you had said no, that the intended target with the suicide bombing was not people playing volleyball. It was an entirely different group, correct?
NAWAZ: Yes, the intended target quite clearly were the Marwat tribal leaders that were forming their own militia. You have to understand that there are tribal boundaries at work over here and that the Massoud particularly who formed the heart of the weaker Taliban movement in south Waziristan are not welcome by the Marwat.
So the Marwat tribal leadership was getting together to form a militia to eject them. They were the main target. When the bomber couldn't reach them, he went for the softer target. And this will be the case, I think, and we should expect more of these attacks.
BALDWIN: More of these attacks. Close to 20 attacks just in the last three months alone. I want to bring Ed back in, Ed Henry for us, traveling with the president. Ed, we were talking about, you know, funding and how the U.S. has supported police, though Mr. Nawaz said that effort needs to be stepped up.
From what perhaps in conversations you might have had with the spokes people, with the administration, any indication that funding to Pakistan from the U.S. will continue?
HENRY: Oh, absolutely. In fact the president just very recently is in the process of approving several billion dollars more to Pakistan in aid and that's largely an outgrowth of the debate the president had within the administration about whether to send more troops to Afghanistan.
We're told by senior officials that in those deliberations, Vice president Joe Biden in particular argued that when you look at it on a piece of paper, the billions and billions that the U.S. has been giving in aid to help Afghanistan in recent years around the war but also rebuilding efforts, that is far, far more than what we have given Pakistan. It's just a fraction of what's gone to Pakistan.
And so part of this effort is not just send more troops to Afghanistan but to send more aid to Pakistan, where we believe a lot of these Al Qaeda leaders, like Osama Bin Laden, they may actually be hiding out. And so what you're seeing from this administration is a bit of a shift to make sure that Pakistan is part of the focus as well, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Mr. Nawaz, just want to get you to react on that real quickly here. I mean, do you think additional aid, additional troops, additional funding is it, is a solution here?
NAWAZ: I think additional aid most definitely and not just the United States but training from NATO and other allies is very critical. What's very important is to strengthen the civilian component in this because it's not solely the military's job to fight terror, particularly in the hinterland. That is really Pakistan has the advantage over Afghanistan, that it has a well-established system and institutions. They just need to be strengthened, better training, better equipment.
BALDWIN: Shuja Nawaz, the author of "Cross Swords, Pakistan: Its Army and the Wars Within," we thank you. And Ed Henry for us in Hawaii. Gentlemen, we thank you both.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown wants to stem the seemingly growing tide of terror being exported out of Yemen. Brown is calling an international meeting later this month to coincide with a similar security conference regarding Afghanistan. Both meetings are now set for the 28th of January.
So how do you spot a terrorist? A piece of machinery may actually be the wave of the future.
And the news equivalent of a Twinkie? Viral videos you just got to see them. Stay here
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Well, when it comes to keeping dangerous chemicals off airplanes, one high-tech machine might offer some answers for us but it's highly controversial. Why? Well it can kind of see through your clothing. Our Brian Todd actually gave it a test run.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport, the newest weapon in the war on terror that can see through clothes carrying explosives. Already used on millions of passengers, these special x-rays can catch all kinds of contraband.
PETER KANT, RAPISCAN SYSTEMS: Regular weapons, guns, knives, box cutters and the like but also unusual types of weapons, explosives, liquid explosives, gels.
TODD: Officials at Rapiscan, the manufacturer, say the machines can also detect pentaerythritol tetra nitrate, an explosive known as PETN, which the suspect in the Christmas day incident was allegedly carrying. The machine's images will look like this, outlines of the body, not in detail but weapons and other items do show up.
This technology has been very controversial because previously it was much more invasive. I went through a so-called back-scanner machine. I was advised that if I didn't want my private areas shown, I should put a metal plate in my pants. I stepped just in front of the machine, turn around. In just a few seconds, the monitor explains my humble contours.
Now in this test, I'm playing the role of a would-be terrorists. I tried to hide a plastic lipstick container in my vest pocket - busted. I sneak a sports drink bottle, busted again. How about wires in a sealed sandwich bag, hidden in my socks. On the monitor, they show up on my ankle but the machines have limitations.
When I pour water into a sealed sandwich bag, place it inside my beltline and in a sock, you can barely see it. But one company behind this technology says trained screeners would detect it and the transportation security administration says they have other methods to detect liquids.
When this came out, privacy advocates called it a virtual strip search, and they're not much more satisfied with the newer technology.
MARC ROTENBERG, ELECTRONIC PRIVACY INFORMATION CTR.: Essentially they're putting a digital fig leaf on the image. This protects the image from what the operator will see but the machine itself can still record all of the detail and store that information for use at a later point.
TODD: A TSA official tells CNN there won't be any hard drives to store the images and says no one will have access to pictures without the so-called fig leaf on them. From one passenger tested on the older machines -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have been through it over in Europe. And I didn't mind.
TODD: Officials with Rapiscan and the Transportation Security Administration tell us the machines are only used if more than a metal detector is required and passengers then get a choice between the machines and pat-downs.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Well, the new year begins with deadly storms in Brazil, torrential rainfall triggering massive mudslides. Emergency crews searching now for survivors.
And if you're in the market to buy or sell, you want to listen. The question we're asking is, will the housing market turn around at all this year and how? We will talk to a housing expert.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: A new year's eve tragedy just outside of Atlanta. Police say a four-year-old was hit by a bullet from celebratory gunfire has died. The boy was attending a midnight church service when the bullet came through the church roof and hit him in the head. Authorities do not know who fired the gun.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NATHALEE PETERS, SON ILLED BY STRAY BULLET: I want to say to the people who did this to my son, please come forward and say something. We need justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Police say they are actively working leads in that case.
BALDWIN: Want to go down to Brazil? Take a look at this aftermath. Crews now just searching for survivors in all this rubble, this muddy mess. Two separate mudslides right around Rio de Janeiro, awful. Officials say at least 51 people have been killed. The mudslides were triggered by 10 inches of rain that fell on the area since Wednesday.
You can see just some of the homes just leveled. Unbelievable, to think of that. Also here closer to home, we're dealing with snow, yes. New England snowstorm threatening to keep folks indoors all weekend long. Jacqui Jeras, I mean it's kind of fun at first the snow coming down but then when you're stuck inside -
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Sure.
BALDWIN: You know about that, Ms. Minnesota.
JERAS: Yes. Not so fun for some, but, you know, it may be some travelers are hoping to get a little snow perhaps to kind of boost their weekend. Have a little fun in it perhaps.
BALDWIN: Sure.
JERAS: But you know, the bitter cold is really gripping about the eastern half of the country. And most of the people dealing with the worst of the cold aren't in that snow. But you know what, some people, Brooke, by the way, love it. Love the cold. They actually go out in their bathing suits this time of the year and get in the water.
Yes, who thought that was a good idea? This video from Newport, Rhode Island. A polar bear plunge, where temperatures were in the upper 20s there yesterday and they were doing the same thing in Jacksonville, Florida. Doing a polar bear plunge.
Hmm, Jacksonville versus Rhode Island. You tell me which is the true polar bear plunge. It was in the mid-50s yesterday in Jacksonville. Come on, it wasn't that bad. But, hey, note, temperatures crazy cold in Florida. By tomorrow morning, this will be a real plunge. In fact, we've got a hard freeze warning in effect for Jacksonville. Temperatures down in the upper 20s.
In fact, there's that big look at what the temperatures are going to be like compared to average tomorrow morning. And notice we're going to be seeing temperatures 20 degrees below normal across the upper Midwest. Our average rather and the same story across central parts of Florida. And one of those concerns is, of course, the citrus crops. So that's something we will be watching overnight for tonight and into tomorrow.
A number of record lows in the upper Midwest this morning. You woke up to 35 below in Grand Forks, North Dakota. And you had 22 degrees below zero in Sioux City, Iowa. This cold air is going to continue to grip the country for the next couple of days. In fact, you know, you're going to be lucky to get into the teens in Minneapolis by the middle of the week, and there you can see that cold air sinking southward and will continue to do so throughout the night tonight.
Now our other big weather story is the storm, the nor'easter and its way off the coast over here towards the Canadian Maritimes bringing in the cold air and windy conditions. So if you live in places like Washington, D.C., New York City, you might get some flurries and that's about it. But you're going to get some really strong winds moving in by tonight. A lot of airport delays, still a lot of those holiday travelers out there and winds overnight tonight, Brooke, believe it or not could be gusting between 45 to 50 miles per hour.
Normally you will see those strong winds during the day, so this could be catching people off guard tonight and we could have some spotty power outages as a result of that as well. Of course, that cold air moves in behind it. So cross your fingers that the power stays on tonight.
BALDWIN: Like you said, snow can be fun but when you're sitting in the airport, not so much. Not so much. Jacqui Jeras, thank you.
Well, here's something you can do if you're hanging out and it's cold outside, you can rent a movie. We're counting down the best movies of 2009. You will want to grab a pen, trust me. Grab a pen and paper. We will be listening to ones you must see. This is so fun. Ben Mankiewicz is here in Atlanta to talk about that.
And the reason behind the New York Jets' decision to shut off the taps for tomorrow's game.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Our top stories now. President Obama is promising to strengthen a partnership with Yemen's government to hunt down terrorists. In his weekly media address, the president links the botched Christmas day terror attack on a U.S.-bound plane to Al Qaeda. He said the suspect 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had in fact ties with the terrorist network in Yemen.
This is the first full day in office for the first African- American mayor elected in Massachusetts by popular vote. Setti Warren is the new mayor of the affluent Boston suburb of Newton. He took the oath of office, I should say, Friday. Massachusetts has had other black mayors but they were chosen by city councils. Slight difference there.
And the taps, they will be dry and the bar will be closed for tomorrow night's New York Jets' game there at the Meadowlands. The Jets organization is banning alcohol sales because of the potential for rowdiness, they say. So the question is, why this game over any other? Apparently, this is the final home game for the Jets at the Meadowlands in the stadium that's set to be demolished at the end of this football season.
And they are the videos people cannot stop clicking on on-line. John Levs has this week's viral videos.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Much more news still ahead. But tight now I want to give you a little bit of a break and bring you a few minutes of pure viral video blitz. Josh Levs has just baked another fresh batch of the internet's greatest hits, the viral video rewind.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I like that. That's probably as close as I have come to actually baking in 2010.
BALDWIN: Yes, I know. Me, too.
LEVS: Oh, my goodness.
BALDWIN: Go ahead.
LEVS: Here's the thing, and it is true. I look forward to this all week. You know, because we have so much news that we have been covering but we hear from you with so many great videos and we follow the most popular ones. We're going to start off today with something pretty short and pretty amazing. Now, you have seen paintings of Marilyn Monroe before but you've never seen anything like this. Watch it.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
LEVS: Watch it. Keep your eye on the white screen and watch what's about to happen. This is about to be a paintball image of Marilyn Monroe. It's organized by Colombian artist Von Urich. He got this team of paintballists to do their own version of Andy Warhol's famous Marilyn Monroe portrait, all in a matter of seconds. Clearly, not the same as the original Warhol but wow, pretty impressive.
All right. Now, up next, we're going for the holidays, a special mention for you, in rewind. Just listen.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
LEVS: He has the whole song going. It's by a guy named Jared Lyon from Rochester Institute of Technology. Not far from my hometown in New York. He's been making domino videos. He created this for the holidays. Went absolutely viral. Millions of views online.
All right. The couple I have shown you so far, totally real. But we all know that sometimes videos can pull tricks on us but few people realize how often TV dramas are using some really clever tricks. There's a new video all about that, that's getting millions of views online. Take a look here.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
LEVS: This is from Stargate Studios. They're calling this virtual back lot. What you're going to will see throughout here are some scenes of some very popular TV shows that look legit. And it turns out they used screens to get these done. Some of the images are pretty amazing. Sometimes you really think - I thought when I saw it that they were actually there.
Why are they putting this out there? This is all about technology, Stargate, that helps filmmakers and TV production simulate being at all sorts of locations. They took these clips - look at that one, "Ugly Betty," and they set this to the song Nara by ES. Watch this. It really looks like she's right there. So it makes you realize, what you see -
BALDWIN: We really do have a newsroom behind us, P.S..
LEVS: I never thought about that.
BALDWIN: This is real.
LEVS: We don't have this kind of thing at our disposal.
BALDWIN: Kind of cool.
LEVS: Yes. It is pretty awesome. All right. Now to video that you might think is fake but it's real and it's stunning. And actually Brooke, watch this with me. Maybe you'll be interested in this. It's called laid-back jumping. Let's watch.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
LEVS: So what do you think, Brooke, would you do it?
BALDWIN: No. But I did cover this big base jumping in West Virginia, off a (INAUDIBLE) bridge when I worked in West Virginia. It was amazing. They would have like diving boards for these guys to jump off of.
LEVS: Isn't it amazing?
BALDWIN: (INAUDIBLE)
LEVS: They're completely calm as they are doing this. Can you see them? And it's base jumping, incredibly high cliffs and they're like whatever, everything's cool. The jumper's name that we're seeing here is C.J. and this video points to his web site, basedreams.com. The video calls itself, listen to this, a window into the world where human beings can fly. And the song there is called "New Slang."
BALDWIN: The Shins.
LEVS: You know that.
BALDWIN: Love the shins.
LEVS: Really, it's like flying.
BALDWIN: Yes, sort of.
LEVS: Beautiful.
BALDWIN: Got to have that parachute. But they don't have a backup. That's the thing with base jumping.
LEVS: I know.
BALDWIN: Just work.
LEVS: You don't have that tandem opportunity. I would jump out of a plane in tandem but I wouldn't do this.
BALDWIN: I would stay on the ground. LEVS: Those are two of the hottest videos from 2009. You know, here at cnn.com, we're actually linking you to the story. It's on our main page right now. And it says over here, one of the top viral videos of 2009. So if you click on it, you're going to see that right here, Susan Boyle. No shock. Number one most popular video of 2009. But one of them -- we can end on this -- in the top 10 -- one of the most popular viral videos of the year right here.
Let's look.
(BABY DANCING VIDEO)
BALDWIN: That was so awesome when that came out!
LEVS: Awesome, this baby getting down to Beyonce is Cory Elliott from New Zealand. His dad has now created a Web site, Singlebabies.com, with this and some other videos (INAUDIBLE) All right, you can let us know your favorite viral videos any time. (INAUDIBLE) CNN.com/josh. Also, Facebook and Twitter, Joshlevscnn. I know it's kind of anti-climatic to see me on that screen when we got that cute little baby dancing, but you've got it all for you right here at CNN.com. Just click around. You can watch everything we just showed you.
BALDWIN: So cute. That's so great. That is the video seen 'round the world. All right, Josh Levs, thank you.
LEVS: Thank you.
BALDWIN: Hilarious.
Housing market in the new year -- up, down, stagnant? We'll get some real answers from an analyst with Moody's Economy.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: If you're wanting to buy, if you're wanting to sell, the question you want to have answered is, When will the housing market fully recover? It was certainly a hot question in 2009 -- you know, way back last year. We'll probably hear a lot more about it this year, but the answer -- well, there's not really a simple one.
Joining me now, Gus Faucher with Moody's Economy.com. Moody's, by the way, tracked the housing market's rise, fall and signs of a rebound using five different indicators. And Gus, I know, you know, it's a good news/bad news scenario, but let's just get the bad news over with. I have a feeling these foreclosures -- they're not going anywhere.
GUS FAUCHER, MOODY'S ECONOMY.COM: That's correct. And in fact, we'll probably see more foreclosures in 2010 than we saw in late 2009. There are a lot of people who had temporary mortgage modifications with their lenders, but a lot of those folks aren't going to see them made permanent either because perhaps they've lost their job or they're not going to qualify. And then even some folks who did have permanent mortgage modifications, they'll still end up in foreclosure just because they can't afford the payments. So we're going to see more foreclosures in early 2010...
BALDWIN: OK.
FAUCHER: ... and that's going to put further downward pressure on prices. So even though we've seen prices stabilize a bit, I think we're going to see further price declines in the first half of this year. So far, they've fallen about 30 percent from their peak. I think that they're going to fall another 7 percent or more, or so. So we will see a pretty steep decline in prices, although the worst is over.
And then, finally, you know, I think that sales are going to be slow to pick up. I think there are many people out there who would like to buy but are going to have difficulty getting a mortgage because banks are still very tight with their lending, and don't I think we are going to see any significant loosening in lending standards until probably the second half of this year.
BALDWIN: So Gus, if we're seeing this price decline -- you know, bad news aside, let's talk good news -- that must mean that affordability goes up.
FAUCHER: That's correct. Affordability is very high now both because prices have fallen, but also because the mortgage rates are very low. So if you can get a mortgage, this is certainly a very opportune time to buy between the combination of low mortgage rates and low prices. So for those people who can get a mortgage, it's a good deal. And then also, there's that tax credit out there. So that's available through the end of April, and that's another plus that will encourage sales.
Second, there's also signs that home construction is picking back up. So we saw a very steep contraction in home building, but those have improved a bit, housing starts since the middle of the year, and I think that that will continue. And that's because we're clearing a lot of that excess supply out there. There was a lot of overbuilding in some areas.
BALDWIN: Right.
FAUCHER: But the low prices, the higher sales, that's starting to clear the market. So we are seeing a lot of that excess supply disappear. And so that will lead to a stabilization in the housing market probably towards the end of this year.
BALDWIN: OK, so the stabilization, the end of this year, but you know, with all the other bullet points you had, I mean, how long -- how quickly can we see those changes happen?
FAUCHER: Well, I mean, it's a slow process. It's taking place right now. I think it's probably going to be another year-and-a-half or so before we see the excess supply of housing clear the market. So I think in terms of -- we'll see prices stabilize in the second half of 2010, but we won't see significant price gains probably until some time late in 2011. So it's a very slow process. Obviously, we had a lot of excesses in the housing market. Those have contributed mightily to the recession. We're slowly clearing those, but it's taking some time and it's going to be a very long process.
BALDWIN: Oh, boy, oh, boy. Gus Faucher with Moody's Economy.com, thank you for looking into your housing crystal ball for us. We appreciate it.
FAUCHER: Thank you.
BALDWIN: And we all know the damage that Hurricane Katrina did to New Orleans. You know, getting small businesses up and running again has to be really vital to that area's recovery. So in this week's "Turnaround," Sean Callebs tells the story of a New Orleans institution that was just totally bowled over by the storm but is now coming back strong.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a bowling alley, restaurant, and a place known for its live music. It's also a beacon of light in New Orleans and proof that businesses can return and (INAUDIBLE)
JOHN BLANCHER, OWNER, ROCK 'N BOWL: My name is John Blancher, and this is my turnaround story.
CALLEBS: When Hurricane Katrina destroyed his business, Blancher did what he does best. He went back to work.
BLANCHER: What really helped me turn the thing around, I think it was a combination of both of my faith, my family, friends and good will from a lot of people that wanted to help me and wanted Rock 'n Bowl to not die.
CALLEBS: Blancher's family pitched in, and so did The Idea Village, a non-profit that supports local entrepreneurs.
TIM WILLIAMSON, THE IDEA VILLAGE: Right after Katrina, we were tasked with going through the community, in the streets, through every single neighborhood to find the true change makers, those entrepreneurs that if we can get their business up and help them start, not only would it create jobs and revenue, but the social impact of what that could mean to our community.
BALDWIN: Blancher and Rock 'n Bowl fit the bill.
CALLEBS: I got a $2,500 grant to help me buy a refrigerator and freezer. Every little bit helped.
CALLEBS: The rest of the money to rebuild came from insurance. Fifty thousand dollars later and only six weeks after Katrina, Rock 'n Bowl was back in business.
(on camera): Six weeks after the storm? BLANCHER: That first night, 700 people showed up.
CALLEBS (voice-over): That first night, John knew his business would make a turnaround. Since reopening Rock 'n Bowl, revenue is up 50 percent, according to Blancher, enough to move to this new, more modern location. And while Blancher's business has turned around, his hard work has taken a toll.
(on camera): Well, let me see how you fare here.
BLANCHER: Well, as I said, this is only the second ball I've thrown here in six months, but we'll see -- we'll see how I go, if I can even stay on my feet! You see?
CALLEBS: Well, you got Barack Obama tied.
(LAUGHTER)
(voice-over): Sean Callebs, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Movies in 2009 certainly ran the gamut. Joining us now with his top 11 picks of the year, film critic and host of Turner Classic Movies Ben Mankiewicz. So we went through -- let me just briefly recap...
BEN MANKIEWICZ, FILM CRITIC: Sure. Yes.
BALDWIN: ... our fun that we had earlier, 11 through 7. Want to run through them really quickly again. Take a look. This is number 11, "I Love You Man" starring Paul Rudd. Number 10, "In the Loop." Nine, "District 9." Number eight, "An Education." Number seven, Pixar's "Up."
So -- I wish we had a drum roll. Number six, Mr. Mankiewicz, we have as a movie I just saw last weekend.
MANKIEWICZ: Oh, you did?
BALDWIN: We talked about your man crush a few weeks ago.
MANKIEWICZ: No question there's another one here.
BALDWIN: Yes, talking about Mr. Clooney, ladies and gentlemen, "Up in the Air." We have a quick clip from the movie and then we'll talk about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNA KENDRICK, ACTOR: What kind of relationship do you have?
GEORGE CLOONEY, ACTOR: You know, casual.
KENDRICK: Sounds pretty special.
CLOONEY: It works for us.
KENDRICK: Don't you think there's a future there?
CLOONEY: Never really thought about it. What's going on here?
KENDRICK: Really never thought about it?
CLOONEY: No.
KENDRICK: How can you not think about that? How does it not even cross your mind that you might want a future with someone?
CLOONEY: It's simple. You know that moment when you look into somebody's eyes and you can feel them staring into your soul and the whole world goes quiet just for a second?
KENDRICK: Yes.
CLOONEY: Right. Well, I don't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So you know, it seems kind of funny, but it's been -- it's a pretty heavy movie.
MANKIEWICZ: It's a pretty heavy movie. It's got some lights moments in it.
BALDWIN: Yes.
MANKIEWICZ: By the way, that was a scene with Clooney and Anna Kendrick, who was in the "Twilight" movies, and I think the real star of those "Twilight" movies, the real talent of those "Twilight" movies. Just for the record, nothing wrong with having a man crush and I do have one for Paul Rudd and George Clooney. I also have one for Vera Formiga, who plays George Clooney's love interest in this. He goes around the country firing people from their jobs and lives a very solitary life, but he connects with her. She's another traveler.
BALDWIN: She was excellent.
MANKIEWICZ: She's a terrific, terrific actress. And I thought it was a real solid movie. A couple of false moments at the end, but by and large, I thought really, really strong.
BALDWIN: OK, and number five, a movie called "Sugar," Dominican baseball star Miguel Sugar Santos recruited to play in the U.S. minor leagues. And then what?
MANKIEWICZ: Yes. It's about sort of whether these players -- there's so many ball players in the majors from the Dominican -- from all over Latin America, but specifically the Dominican Republic. This will make you rethink the whole sort of Latin America ball player experience in baseball. I'm a big baseball van, very critical of baseball movies because they always -- you know, they always look like my mother -- they throw like my mother.
(LAUGHTER)
MANKIEWICZ: There's not -- and she's not -- first of all, she's in her 80s.
BALDWIN: Hey, Mrs. Mankiewicz could be watching!
MANKIEWICZ: Gee, I hope she is. She will say I talk too fast. There's not a false baseball moment in this movie.
BALDWIN: OK.
MANKIEWICZ: It's really solid, start to finish. And it's from the writer, director Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who gave us "Half Nelson" with Ryan Gosling (ph), which is a wonderful film.
BALDWIN: OK. And number four, "Every Little Step."
MANKIEWICZ: Best documentary of the year.
BALDWIN: Really?
MANKIEWICZ: Last year, the Oscar-winning documentary was "Man on Wire." I think this is every bit as good. It's about the revival of the Broadway musical "A Chorus Line" and the casting and then the auditioning for that. And you will sort of bleed with these kids who try to get these roles. And it is heartwarming, it is moving, it is tragic in its own way. It's a great, great, great documentary in a year of good documentaries -- "Food, Inc.," "Tyson." But this was the best.
BALDWIN: OK. Hang out. I want to get to have a bunch of time for (INAUDIBLE) so that was, what, six...
MANKIEWICZ: So we're at...
BALDWIN: ... five, four...
MANKIEWICZ: We got three more. We got (INAUDIBLE)
BALDWIN: Three more. So have we talked about your favorite movie of 2009 yet? Maybe it's one of Ben's top three movies. That is just ahead. Stay right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: All right, again, we're looking at film critic Ben Mankiewicz's top 11 movies of '09. We're down to the last three. OK, so number three, sir, what do we have?
MANKIEWICZ: Number three, the best Iraq war movie of the year certainly. My only fear from an awards point of view is that it came out so early in the year that maybe some people will overlook it at Oscar time.
BALDWIN: "The Hurt"...
MANKIEWICZ: "The Hurt Locker."
BALDWIN: "The Hurt Locker." Let's take a listen.
MANKIEWICZ: All right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your gun down!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Advance, advance. Keep your hands up!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Easy, easy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got it!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I touch my head now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Slowly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're on the same side, guys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: OK, that was very real. That hits close to home here.
MANKIEWICZ: Yes, the whole movie, very authentic. That was Ralph Fiennes you saw in that scene, along with Anthony Mackie. There's some cameos in this movie from David Morse, from Ralph Fiennes, from Guy Pearce. But the performance of Anthony Mackie, Jeremy Renner are so good. It's about an explosive ordnance disposal unit, bomb squad, in Iraq. Really tense scenes but it's a really personal -- it's sort of a really personal movie, as well.
BALDWIN: OK.
MANKIEWICZ: And great year for female directors. Kathryn Bigelow did a terrific job.
BALDWIN: Right now. Number two -- I was a big fan of this -- Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds."
MANKIEWICZ: Yes.
BALDWIN: We have a clip here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRAD PITT, ACTOR: My name is Lieutenant Aldo Raine, and I'm putting together a special team and I need me eight soldiers, eight Jewish American soldiers. Now, you all might have heard rumors about the armada (ph) happening soon. Well, we'll be leaving a little earlier. We're going to be dropped into France dressed as civilians, and once we're in enemy territory, as a bushwhacking guerrilla army, we're going to be doing one thing and one thing only, killing Nazis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So number two for a great reason.
MANKIEWICZ: Number two. I really liked it. I thought it was a really challenging movie socially (ph). First of all, it's my favorite Tarantino movie since "Jackie Brown." I love saying that because I think "Jackie Brown" is so underrated. The great dialogue, the pulp violence that you expect from Tarantino...
BALDWIN: Yes.
MANKIEWICZ: I didn't think the violence was gratuitous. It also asks some, I thought, really difficult questions because in this movie, these sort of -- these Jewish soldiers, they go -- they capture Nazis, they torture them, and they scalp them. They leave one alive to report back on what they've seen.
And then later, a couple members of "the basterds," they strap explosives to their legs and they go into a theater with members of the Nazi high command and some civilians. I mean, that kind of behavior -- that makes them arguably terrorists.
BALDWIN: Yes.
MANKIEWICZ: But you're rooting for them. So it really sort of, I think, makes you rethink the terms that we use.
BALDWIN: Absolutely.
MANKIEWICZ: It's a real thoughtful movie.
BALDWIN: That's when you know it's a good movie.
MANKIEWICZ: And really, of course, well written. Brad Pitt does a nice job.
BALDWIN: OK, and number one, a Spanish language film. I...
MANKIEWICZ: Yes.
BALDWIN: This is on my list.
MANKIEWICZ: Don't be -- don't be scared off by that.
BALDWIN: Yes, I know, with English subtitles. This is called "Sin Nombre," "Without a Name." Here's a bit of the trailer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was taking a chance to find a better life. He was caught up in a world of brutality. But when he tried to leave his violent past behind, his own gang put a price on his head. And he met the one person who would change his life forever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Just the visuals alone, the grittiness, the way it's shot, edited -- I'm a fan.
MANKIEWICZ: It's the story of a teenage girl and then a young Mexican gang member trying to get out of the gangs. And they take a train from southern Mexico through the entire country to the U.S. border. And this train has got to be the most dangerous form of transportation. It's like amateur drag racing. I mean, every moment on this train is filled with peril. The movie is uplifting. It's terrifying. It's great. And don't be afraid of it just because it's in Spanish with English subtitles.
BALDWIN: OK, "Sin Nombre," it's on my list. Thank you.
MANKIEWICZ: And if you don't want to wait for the Oscars, the Critics Choice movie awards, January 15th, 9:00 o'clock on VH1. This is the first awards show of, of course, many, and then Golden Globes and then the Oscars.
BALDWIN: OK. Real quickly, I have at least the last six in front of me. Six was "Up in the Air," five was "Sugar," four, "Every Little Step," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds" and one, "Sin Nombre."
MANKIEWICZ: They're all sensational, all six of them.
BALDWIN: Awesome. Ben Mankiewicz, thank you.
MANKIEWICZ: Thanks, Brooke. It was fun.
BALDWIN: Thank you.
A decade of change -- we saw many advances in the past 10 years, but maybe none quite as big as technology. Just think -- admit it, actually. What would you do without Facebook or even Google?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: A decade of innovation. We wanted to just take a moment today to look back at the last 10 years just to see some of the technology that really changed the way we do the things we do every day. Our own Fredricka Whitfield has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Has it really been a full decade since we were counting down the minutes to the new millennium and hoping the lights would stay on when the clock struck midnight? We were afraid the Y2K bug was going to shut down our computers, remember? Not only did our computers stay on, year by year during the first decade of the 21st century, they gradually changed our everyday lives. No more waiting for the paper boy. We went on line to get more and more of our news and information.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My children do not read the newspaper. My children get all of their news on line.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't even subscribe anymore.
WHITFIELD: We used computers to buy things, and not just on Craigslist. The term "Cyber Monday" was coined in 2005, referring to on-line shopping the Monday after Thanksgiving. We also used computers to connect and reconnect with friends. MySpace was founded in 2003. Facebook started in 2004. And Twitter began tweeting in 2006. Even our telephones began to look and act like computers. They weren't just for making calls anymore.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's really become a window for us into the world. Anything that's not directly in front of you, there's a good chance you can get at it through a Smartphone.
WHITFIELD: Not only were our new phones versatile, we could take them anywhere. Only 28 percent of all Americans had cell phones in 2000. By 2009, that percentage had climbed to 85 percent. And public phones -- disappearing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ever use it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I don't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a cell phone.
WHITFIELD: Cell phones became so popular, some of us even gave up our land lines.
CLARK HOWARD, HLN MONEY EXPERT: One third of Americans now, according to a most recent survey, either have only cell phone or have a home phone they scratch their heads about, Why am I still using it?
WHITFIELD: Even in homes that still had land lines, the phone books that used to sit next to them were getting hard to find. After all, when we needed a phone number, many of us were much more likely to Google it on the Internet. And since when did the name Google become a verb, you ask? Well, since it went into the Merriam Webster dictionary in 2006. How do we know that? We Googled it. Fredricka Whitfield, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Well, no need to Google this. The fact is an Arctic blast crippling much of the country right now, Florida facing potentially devastating cold to orange crops. Our Don Lemon will have much more on that as CNN NEWSROOM continues in New York. But for now, I'm Brooke Baldwin, in for Fredricka Whitfield. Thank you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
